'NBA Live 18' makes history by including WNBA teams and players

YouTube/ EASPORTS"NBA Live 18" will feature teams and players from the WNBA.

The upcoming video game "NBA Live 18" will be featuring the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and all the players from its 12 teams. This will mark the first time that the WNBA is included in a video game.

The inclusion was announced by game developer EA Sports last week. The game will include a WNBA Play Now menu where the league's teams and players will be accessible for head to head games versus the AI, against another player locally or via an online match.

Senior producer Mike Mahar also revealed to Polygon that the most recent WNBA All-Star team will be available to players. Unfortunately, the league will not be available in the career mode, nor will a player be able to pit a WNBA team against an NBA team. However, the developers are already looking forward to a future where players can get a deeper WNBA video game integration.

"The WNBA is home to some of the most incredible athletes on the planet, and we've been working hard to integrate them into our game in an authentic and meaningful way," said NBA Live Executive Producer Sean O'Brien. "This is only a taste of what we have in store, and look forward to working with the league on more great integrations in the franchise in the future."

A number of WNBA stars went to the EA Sports' Tiburon studio to sit down for detailed head scans. The studio is also where the developer creates the in-game versions of athletes for other games as well. Players whose head scans have been taken include 2014 WNBA MVP Maya Moore, 2012 WNBA MVP Tina Charles, four-time WNBA All-Star Brittney Griner, Diana Taurasi, who is one of WNBA's all-time greats.